2013 Collection ‘Kurunegala Rive-Gauche’ CFW

Deneth’s new collection ‘Kurunegala Rive-Gauche’ is inspired by the works of the great French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, who is famous for bringing masculine elements into women’s wardrobe and his structural designs and Sri Lankan government school uniforms.I had the opportunity to visit his studio in 2012 during my stay in Paris at Cité Internationale des Arts. I was especially interested by his straight cut in dresses and his care for small details he spent hours adjusting.

These new designs bring together the classic elegance of shaped silhouettes, structured pleats and unique handmade accessories made of Sri Lankan traditional ‘cheetha’ textile combined with colourful handwoven cottons and linens, all with a touch of ever so inspirational Paris.

All the handwoven textiles we used are by Selyn, a reknown handloom company from my hometown, Kurunegala. Aside from our love for design, we share a strong belief in helping each other to grow and go forward.

This year’s line of accessories includes handmade hats -called ‘bibi’ in French- created with Lucile Jaeghers, a young textile and accessory designer from Paris, with whom I designed a hand crocheted woolen accessory collection in Autumn 2012 for my show at Cité Internationale des Arts.

I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart our generous sponsor Selyn company for giving us the opportunity to use their beautiful textiles and helping us bringing the best of Kurunegala’s skills to Colombo Fashion Week 2013.

We hope you’ll enjoy our new collection as much as we enjoyed crafting it.